MMA

1:02 PM ET The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on Wednesday extended the suspensions of MMA coach James Krause and fighter Darrick Minner, who were previously suspended after Minner’s UFC fight against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke was flagged for suspicious betting activity. The suspensions are pending further investigation and future disciplinary hearings. Krause and Minner’s NSAC suspensions

8:00 AM ET The UFC’s last fight card will feature two of the best lightweights in MMA in Arman Tsarukyan and Damir Ismagulov (Saturday, 7 p.m. E.T. on ESPN+), who carry a combined record of 42-4 in their careers thus far. Neither is relatively close to contending for a title in 2023. That’s how deep

9:36 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Chuck Liddell is long retired. Same for Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz. Jon Jones was last UFC light heavyweight champion over two years ago. Once the UFC’s glamour division filled

1:31 AM ET LAS VEGAS — UFC lost its light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka to injury in November. UFC 282 was supposed to crown his successor. Unfortunately, it did not. Former champion Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1) and Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1) fought to a five-round split draw in the main event Saturday inside T-Mobile Arena. Judge Mike

2:27 AM ET UFC will not have a light heavyweight champion to close 2022. But the promotion is not wasting any time in trying to crown a titleholder. Following a split draw in a vacant light heavyweight title bout Saturday night at UFC 282, former champion Glover Teixeira will face Jamahal Hill for the belt

Dec 10, 2022 Jeff Wagenheim Raul Rosas Jr., who turned 18 years old just two months ago, became the youngest fighter ever to compete in the UFC on Saturday night, and his performance was dominant in a first-round submission of veteran bantamweight Jay Perrin during the prelims of UFC 282 at T-Mobile Arena in Las

2:00 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Chuck Liddell. Randy Couture. Tito Ortiz. “Rampage” Jackson. Daniel Cormier. Jon Jones. The UFC light heavyweight division has been home to some of the biggest stars and best fighters in

9:54 PM ET The UFC light heavyweight title will be up for grabs this weekend — even without the participants who were originally scheduled to battle for the gold. Former champion Jan Blachowicz will take on Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 282 on Saturday in Las Vegas. The winner will take home

12:29 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Raufeon Stots fought and then he sang. After the split decision was read on Friday night and Stots was declared the winner of a Bellator 289 main event that had a fiery leadup littered with trash talk, Danny Sabatello stormed out of the cage, whereupon Stots grabbed his interviewer’s microphone

6:57 PM ET Kevin Holland isn’t the only one with an injured hand after a hard-fought UFC Fight Night main event last week. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson wrote Friday on Twitter that he broke the second and third metacarpals in his left hand in the bout against Holland. Thompson won via TKO after the fourth round

9:05 PM ET Fight fixing is now a “huge concern” for the UFC amid several investigations into suspicious betting activity around a bout last month, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. A Nov. 5 UFC fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke is under scrutiny after a dramatic betting line movement in the hours before

9:00 AM ET There is a constant debate in MMA about when fighters may enter their prime. Some people believe it’s the late 20s. Others feel it’s early- to mid-30s. But none of that stops fans from looking for the best up-and-coming talent to follow, and, ultimately, see where they land. ESPN’s fourth annual ranking

4:46 AM ET London’s O2 Arena will host UFC 286 on March 18, the MMA promotion confirmed on Wednesday. It will be UFC’s third event to be held in London inside 12 months but only the second numbered event in history to the held in the UK. Its last installment was in 2016 as Michael

4:01 PM ET UFC star Israel Adesanya is likely to be cleared of charges after he was arrested last month in New York for possession of a weapon. The former UFC middleweight champion was given an “adjournment in contemplation of dismissal” Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. That means

8:51 AM ET Paddy Pimblett made his UFC debut in September 2021. Two months later, the MMA prospect out of England traveled to the United States. Pimblett was accosted for photos in places like Times Square in New York and Yard House restaurant in San Diego. Fast-forward a little more than a year, and “The

10:12 PM ET Kayla Harrison‘s plans for the next year and beyond are very much up in the air. The two-time former PFL women’s lightweight champion told ESPN she is not sure what her next move will be, but her top priority is a rematch with Larissa Pacheco, who handed Harrison her first career loss

2:09 PM ET James Krause, the MMA coach at the center of a UFC betting controversy, is barred from attending or cornering any fighters at the Fighting Alliance Championship event on Friday in Independence, Missouri, sources told ESPN. Krause-trained fighters Gauge Young, Gina Mazany and Alexa Culp are on the card for FAC 17. The

8:28 PM ET TJ Dillashaw, one of the top bantamweight fighters in the history of MMA, has retired from the UFC, Dillashaw’s agent Tiki Ghosn confirmed to ESPN on Monday. Dillashaw, a former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, went into his title challenge against bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 in October with a bad